


To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.

by Fanfic_Annie



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Developing Relationship, Emotions, F/F, Feelings, Intimacy, LGBT, Love, Trust, Vanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 02:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15402966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanfic_Annie/pseuds/Fanfic_Annie
Summary: Charity takes Vanessa to dinner to find out what's troubling her.  A filler piece about them getting back on track after Charity's outburst about Megan and Frank and Vanessa's week supporting Tracey.Title quote by George MacDonald





	To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just playing with dialogue really. And a bit of storytelling.

Charity had brought Vanessa into Hotten for dinner. It was quite spur of the moment, she'd rocked up to Vanessa's having convinced Chas to give her the night off, bundled Vanessa into her car and driven them into town. She wanted to treat her to let her know how serious she was about being with her. And there was still something not quite right lingering between them since her outburst in the pub last week. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was but there was a distance that she hated. And Vanessa hadn't quite been herself, particularly at the back end of this week.

So she thought it best to get them out of the village for a bit, away from the gossip that had followed them around for a few days. She wanted them to go somewhere quiet, where they could relax and talk and laugh and hopefully reconnect and finally put it all behind them.

And so far they'd managed pretty well. There was an unstoppable attraction between them and they bantered brilliantly at the best of times, so the conversation was light and fun and never faltered. But there was still something sitting behind Vanessa's eyes, a slight dulling of her natural vivacity and Charity was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"So. Your Dad's back then? Couldn't stay away from Megan?" She knew it was a risky topic but it was the one most likely to draw Vanessa into confessing what was troubling her. Particularly if it related to Charity.

"What? Oh yeah. No, nothing like that. He came back for Tracey."

"Why? What's up with Trace?"

"Wha....oh nothing." Vanessa looked down at her plate, fiddled with her cutlery, then took a sip of wine.

"Oh come on, Babe, you can tell me," Charity was deliberately pushing her.

"No, nothing, Charity. Leave it." Vanessa looked at her and pulled her mouth into a smile which didn't reach her eyes.

Charity sat back in her chair and sighed, a painful realisation hitting her.

"Oh," was all she said.

Vanessa stared at her with raised eyebrows, not smiling now. "I said, drop it."

"You don't trust me."

Vanessa sighed. "I do, Charity. Of course I do. With my life, probably, at a push. I wouldn't be with you if I didn't trust you. But not with this. This is Tracey's stuff, not mine. And I haven't got the energy for a fight. So, don't make it about us and please, just leave it alone."

Charity felt stung by Vanessa's words. Not because they weren't true or because they were unfair. In fact, quite the opposite. But she knew that she wanted Vanessa to feel she could open up to her. So that she could help. She owed her that after the tower of support she had been and continued to be for Charity. She wanted it more than anything. So she considered what to do.

She eyed Vanessa across the table, as dispassionately as she could. Her beautiful features, usually so open and glowing, were less sparkly than normal. Only fractionally so, most people wouldn't even notice, but she did. She was so finely tuned to Vanessa now that she could see the miniscule variations in her gaze, the faster-than-usual drop of her eyes following contact between them, the straightness of her mouth away from its usual irascible smile, the firm set of her normally relaxed jaw. She was hurting and that bothered Charity more than her own hurt at being pushed away. 

She looked into Vanessa's eyes and smiled. She leaned forward and put her hand over Vanessa's, on the table. "I should call you Raziel," she said. "You're the keeper of everyone's secrets. Your shoulders must be heavy, Babe. I'll give them a rub when we get home."

Vanessa smiled a smile of relief then, sensing that the danger had passed. "That would be nice. Thanks."

"I do get it, you know."

"Huh?"

"That I told you some of the nastiest, most vile secrets that anyone should ever have to know. And you kept them. You even put your family in danger to keep them. For me. You carried them willingly, without a murmur."

"And I didn't do the same. I hurt the people you love. By not keeping secrets. By blabbing them in the open. I see it. I do. And I don't want to be that person. Not any more. Not for you. I want to be the person that helps you. Like you help me. That you can confide in, trust anything with and be worthy of that trust.

"Look," she continued. "I'm not asking you to tell me anything that you don't want to. Or break confidences. That's not what I mean. I'm not hunting for gossip or expecting that we have to share everything about ourselves. But something's troubling you, Ness, and I want to help. I'm offering to help. And I swear, anything you do tell me will be kept in here," she put her hand over her heart, "and respected. As you have done with everything I've told you."

Vanessa sat back in her chair and looked directly at Charity. "She's just so broken by the whole David thing. He's let her down so badly, and she's done something, and now he's acting like he's the wronged party and she's hurt him deliberately. And he's sleeping with Maya which I'm convinced he's doing just to spite her."

"She's so fragile, you know," she continued with a sigh. " After the court case, and the Task Force, and David's treatment of her, and Leyla. And she thinks I've let her down, over the whole, you know." Her eyes flicked up briefly, to meet Charity's. " She's been through so much. And now this." She wells up. "She doesn't deserve it, you know."

Charity takes Vanessa's hands in hers and brings them together across the table. "Babe, Tracey's not fragile. She's a flamin' powerhouse. Just like you. And yeah, she's got some stuff going on. But she can handle it. And she's got you, and Frank. Megan too, if she'd let her. And me if she wants. And that's a pretty formidable back-up team for anyone. Yes she hurts now, but she'll be fine, I promise."

"Yeah. I guess I see her as my baby sister and want to look out for her."

"Trust me, Babe, she's not a baby." The irony of Charity's words did not pass either of them by.

Vanessa smiled reluctantly at her. "Ok, Charity, I trust you," she said, grudgingly.

Charity raised her hand and stroked Vanessa's cheek with her finger, then smoothed away the frown on her forehead and pushed the sides of her lips up, trying to make her smile. "Feel better, Babe? Did I make you feel better? Did I?"

Vanessa chuckled. "Maybe."

"Oh come on, Babe. That was, like, proper good girlfriend support." She nodded her head in time to her words. "I'm getting quite good at this, I think." She gave a smug, self-congratulatory grin.

"Yes, Charity, you're not bad," Vanessa laughed. "But make sure you keep telling me how good you are, just in case I miss it."

"Don't want you to forget how lucky you are, Babe. Now, lets get the bill and go home. I owe you a back rub. For starters..."

**Author's Note:**

> Please do let me know what you think.


End file.
